According to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
- Increase in Net Profit by 16.7% (29.4% on a recurrent basis)
- Remarkable growth in Retail Banking of 44.6%
- Interest margin improvement despite high competition in the market (NIM ? 3.15%)
- Significant increase in Net Fee and Commission Income by 33.5%
- Effective Cost Containment policy, decline of operating expenses by 1.7%
- Coverage Ratio continues to be at satisfactory levels (85.7%)
- Sustained Capital Adequacy with Tier 1 ratio at 12.2%

ATEbank has achieved significant growth in profitability in the first 6-months of 2006 as consolidated profits after tax and minority interest increased by 16.7% reaching the level of Euro82.1 million versus Euro70.4 million in the corresponding period of the previous year. On a recurrent basis, if adjusted for one-off items, profits after tax and minority interest increased by 29.4%. It must be noted that the results were negatively affected by, firstly, a one-off tax liability of Euro29.9 million related to the dividend paid for the financial year 2005 and secondly, by the reduced result of the subsidiary Hellenic Sugar Company (by Euro22.6 million), following the recent EU decisions regarding sugar production. Net interest income reached Euro280.6 million, a 4.4% increase on a recurrent basis (excluding non-recurring interest income of around Euro54 million during the first half of 2005 due to loan restructuring under the law 3259/04 on "Panotokia"). The Net Interest Margin (net interest income over average interest earning assets) stood at 3.15% compared to 3.14%, on a recurrent basis, as of 30 June 2005 (and 3,09% as of 31 March 2006). Net fee and commission income showed a significant increase of 33.5% compared to the corresponding period in 2005 reaching the level of Euro37.2 million. Other non-interest income, showed an increase of 1.2% on a reported basis. On a recurrent basis (if we exclude Euro19.5 million trading gains relating to the disposal of part of the available for sale portfolio) other non-interest income showed a degrease of 22.1% versus the corresponding period in the previous year, mainly due to the increase of the cost of sales of the subsidiary Hellenic Sugar Company, following the recent EU decisions regarding sugar production and a transient negative valuation of the trading portfolio due to the drop of the Greek stock market during that period. On the other hand, the decline of operating costs contributed positively to the Group's operating result. Operating expenses reached Euro238.6 million, a decrease of 1.7% compared with 30 June 2005. This trend reflects the continuous effectiveness of the cost containment policy that is being implemented throughout the ATEbank Group of companies. The Group cost income ratio was 62.8% on a recurrent basis compared to 63.2% in the first six months of 2005. Total loans before provisions at the end of June 2006 reached Euro13.1 billion, an increase of 7.8% compared to end of June 2005. It should be noted that if adjusted for the Euro478 million loan write-offs under the "Panotokia law" during the period July 2005 to June 2006, the underlying expansion of the loan book would be 11.7%. Household loan portfolio as of 30 June 2006 reached Euro4.2 billion compared to Euro2.9 billion as of 30 June 2005, an increase of 45%, significantly higher than the market growth. The combination of new retail products with aggressive marketing campaigns which have been introduced during the last 4-5 quarters have resulted in a remarkable increase in new disbursements. Average mortgage lending new disbursements have gone up in the first half of 2006 by 180% compared to the first half of 2005 and by 47% compared to the average of the previous year. Similarly, in consumer credit, the new products which were gradually introduced since March 2006 have led the average consumer lending new disbursements in the first half of 2006 to increase by 63% compared to the corresponding period last year and by 53% compared to the average of the previous year. The strategy of the bank is to continue the aggressive approach to household customers and to expand this policy to the SMEs sector as well. The continuous increase of the household segment as a percentage of the total loan portfolio (32% in 6M06 compared to 24% in 6M05) signifies the efforts of ATEbank to expand further its activities in sectors which can produce relatively higher returns both through interest as well as fees and commissions income. Total NPL ratio dropped from 19.0% in 30 June 2005 to 14.3% in 30 June 2006, while the provisioning coverage ratio, despite the Euro478million of write-offs, remained at the satisfactory level of 85.7%. Customer deposits increased by 4.6% y-o-y at Euro17.3 billion, resulting in a loans to deposits ratio of 75.6%. Such a ratio together with the comparatively low cost of funding (1.36%), despite the continuous ECB rate increases, is a significant advantage which the bank will continue to utilize in order to foster growth and gain market shares in high competition sectors. EPS in the first six months of 2006 was Euro0.09. Based on the net profit for the 6M 2006, the Return on average Assets stood at 0.80% (0,85% on a recurrent basis), while the Return on average Equity was 13.75% (14.65% on a recurrent basis). ATEbank sustains a robust capital adequacy. At the end of June 2006, the estimated Total BIS Ratio stood at 11.6% and the Tier I Ratio at 12.2%. The evidenced positive development in the financial figures of ATEbank is the result of an intensive effort that is being made throughout the Group at an operational and organizational level. The aim is to increase market share in retail banking, to dynamically penetrate the SME segment, to further improve asset quality, to explore possible opportunities both within Greece and in the region, to disengage from non-financial participations and to improve the return of all companies of the Group.